Blood Oranges

Every winter I buy blood oranges once or twice because I love how they look. The blush on the rind, the color of the pulp. But it seems like they never taste that good. They aren't as sweet as many other oranges, in my experience, but that's not really the problem. Often they just aren't very juicy. I seem to get rather dry, wrinkly pulp fairly frequently.

Is this an inherent issue with blood oranges or is it just that the ones we get in NYC aren't terribly good? Or have I just been unlucky?

I got some really beautiful ones this year.. Oddly enough in bed stuy.. I used them to make 8 cups of juice for your fish.. It might be a good year for them unless you already had some and they weren't good.. But, I was super happy with them, used them in a couple of ceviches too.. It was from a Spanish Grocery if that makes a difference.

I think it varies from season to season. This year the ones I have had have been good, nicely juicy, if on the smallish side. I got them in WF I believe. I had them with coriander-crusted scallops and pink grapefruit at a dinner party, very nice, and I made a riff on the clementine cake as well as a blood orange ailoli to serve with roasted salmon. But I also like them just on their own or with yogurt and perhaps a few chopped almonds or hazlenuts.

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I've never had good ones in the US. In Italy, where they are the norm, they are glorious.

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eataly also had some nice ones this season. the better ones tended to be on the small side.

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I've never been to Italy in winter. I recall having some fabulous blood oranges there in summertime. Of course they could have been from Africa or South America.

I generally prefer Temple oranges at this time of year for flavor & juiciness. Good ones have seemed harder to find this year than previously, but Fairyway had a terrific crop 2 weeks ago. I hope to head up there tonight & see if they're still around.

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I've had some decent moros in So Cal so far. They are naturally less sweet than other oranges (which is why I love them so much). But they shouldn't be dry. I don't know if this helps you, but I see many people making the same mistake when buying citrus: go for the ones with the smoothest skin, not the bumpiest.

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I have to agree that the ones I get at the LCD supermarket (Pathmark) and even the fancy food store (Jubilee) have pretty much always been disappointing.

I think they are one of those items that are being forced into general distribution due to "trendiness" before the supply can support the distribution channels. At least here in the Northeast, far from where they might be grown. Maybe in a few years they'll be better (in the same way Mexican avocados took a while to get to the same beautifulness as those from CA.) But for now, I'll look but not buy.

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Every winter I buy blood oranges once or twice because I love how they look. The blush on the rind, the color of the pulp. But it seems like they never taste that good. They aren't as sweet as many other oranges, in my experience, but that's not really the problem. Often they just aren't very juicy. I seem to get rather dry, wrinkly pulp fairly frequently.

Is this an inherent issue with blood oranges or is it just that the ones we get in NYC aren't terribly good? Or have I just been unlucky?

They have to be really fresh -- they don't keep as well as regular oranges.When they are fresh they are really superb -- there are some varieties from Sicily, which when you get them in season in Italy are just great.